Search This Blog

Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

BIOGRAPHY: Johannes Josephus Aarts

“So as not to waste any more of my precious time, I will abandon
the engraving of the two Jubilee stamps with immediate effect”, a livid
Professor Aarts wrote in a telegram in 1923. The Dutch stamp committee, afraid
to lose such a renowned engraver, did its utmost to keep him on board.

For, renowned Johannes Josephus (Jan) Aarts was indeed. Born
in The Hague, the Netherlands, on 18 August 1871, he studied at the city’s
Royal Academy of Art. He followed this up with various travels to Paris, but
from 1897 he became a teacher at that same Royal Academy.

Aarts’ first engravings show how he tried to move away from
his work as a painter and search for tighter control of forms and decorative
solutions to problems. As an intermediate step away from painting, Aarts
started drawing in black and white and it is this work that made other artists
suggest he should take up engraving. Wood engraving was yet another step
towards the ultimate goal of copper engraving.

During this time he moved more and more towards a realistic
approach, both in subject matter and style. Elementary is another word often
used for his engraved art. He took the farmer, the polder boy, the fisherman,
the beggars family and other lifelike figures central and even though he placed
them in elementary surroundings, symbolised by the earth, a tree, or what not,
it was still the figure which remained central, and as such Aarts’ work was a
vital link in the development of subject matter for the 19th century
engraver.

In 1910, the position of Professor of the Engraving
Department at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten (National Academy of
Visual Arts) unexpectedly became vacant, and Aarts, having become by far the
most famous engraver in the Netherlands, was asked to consider the position. He
duly accepted and would remain a professor at the academy until his death in
1934. During those years, he would teach a good number of future stamp
engravers, such as Debora Duyvis, Sem Hartz, Hubert Levigne and MrsReitsma-Valença.

In 1912, when preparations had begun on a large
commemorative stamp set to mark a centenary of Dutch Independence in 1913,
Aarts had almost literally forced himself on the Dutch postal authorities as
being the best choice for engraving the set. At that time, he was employed by
the printers Enschedé to engrave a new banknote, the ‘Labour and Welfare’ 10
guilder banknote, which would eventually be issued in 1917.

Proofs of his banknote work shown to the postal authorities
did not have the desired effect, however, with his work being described as ‘not
without room for improvement’. But there was really only one other engraver
good enough to be considered, and in the end, the designer of the set, Mr De
Bazel, was given the choice of engraver and he chose Aarts.

Aarts started in December 1912 but it took him to mid
September 1913 to finish the twelve dies. This was mainly due to circumstances
beyond his control, such as insufficiently prepared reference and design
material and too much interference from the postal authorities. Much to Aarts’
chagrin, even lay ministerial figures thought they had to have a say in the
engraving process. The original date of issue, 15 September 1913, could no
longer be realised and the stamps would eventually not appear until the end of
the year.

Even though the experience had not been a gratifying one, in
1923 Aarts was once again asked to engrave the next Dutch commemorative issue. The
issue, marking the 25th anniversary of Queen Wilhelmina’s reign,
would comprise two designs: that of Queen Wilhelmina, and a stylised design of
a throned figure.

Aarts started working on the Throned Figure design first, but
unbeknownst to him (and anyone else), Enschedé had asked their in-house
engraver Jan Warnaar to engrave a die as well. Unfortunately for Aarts,
Warnaar’s die was thought to be much superior. When Aarts was informed about
all this, he nearly exploded and threatened to abandon the project altogether.

The head of the stamp committee managed to calm him down
eventually, by offering a compromise solution: if Aarts could submit an
improved engraving of the Throned Figure design, his would be chosen, and Warnaar
would then be allowed engrave the design featuring Queen Wilhelmina.

Although this deal resulted in major friction in the stamp
committee, it was honoured, and that’s how Aarts’ engraving of the Throned
Figure would be used, even though in the end both engravings by Warnaar had
been considered superior.

Aarts’ unaccepted engraving of the Queen Wilhelmina design,
for he actually had by then made an engraving of that design as well, would
find some use after all. Enschedé, not having a finished die to work with yet,
would use Aarts’ engraving to create various colour proofs.

But Aarts’ rather uneasy relations with the Dutch Post
didn’t end there. In 1927, when an issue to commemorate the Dutch Red Cross
Society was planned, Aarts was once again asked to prepare several of the
values, portraying King William III and Queen Wilhelmina. He duly submitted
engraved essays, which were worked upon for a while until, rather late in the
process, they were eventually rejected.

That then finally ended his dealings with the postal
authorities, but at least he had the satisfaction that his pupils would shape
the future of stamp engraving for years to come.